“We are no killer troop. What we need are disciplined, sober-minded men, who by speed and decisive action make their weapons superfluous.” — Lt. Col. Ulrich K. Wegener, GSG 9 founder, October 1977.

On September 5, 1972, during the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, an armed Palestinian terrorist group took 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage, shooting two of them to death during a scuffle soon afterward. The eight terrorists and their remaining nine hostages were transported to nearby Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base later that same evening, where German police attempted a rescue operation, but they were poorly trained, poorly organized, and ill-equipped for dealing with terrorist incidents. During a blazing gunfight on the tarmac, five terrorists, one policeman, and all

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